Shaw's Tavern in Washington opened early and attracted a line of waiting customers seeking to watch the former FBI director's congressional appearance. A special menu was offered for occasion, with the sandwich, the vodka and Covfefe coffee - a coffee with whipped cream and cinnamon. The hearing blared on televisions mounted throughout the bar and on the patio.

"This is massive,'' said Dani Robillard, 42, of San Francisco, who lined up outside Shaw's. She said she was in town for a wedding and wanted to watch the hearing with people. Like others in line, she said she did not support Trump.

Todd Shaffer, 55, a commercial real estate agent in the crowd at Shaw's, predicted that little would get done in the nation's workplaces.

Asked what he planned to order at Shaw's, he said: "I'd like to get a white Russian.''

The crowd at Shaw's grew quiet when the hearing began, but patrons reacted to key moments, with some applauding when Comey said Trump's administration spread "lies, plain and simple'' and "defamed'' him and the FBI.

The hearing is Comey's first congressional appearance since he was fired by President Donald Trump last month. The testimony comes amid investigations by the FBI and congressional committees into the scope of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

In a statement to the intelligence committee released on Wednesday, Comey detailed a handful of one-on-one interactions with Trump that he said made him uneasy. The president had demanded his loyalty, had tried to create a "patronage relationship," and asked him to back off an investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn, Comey alleged. Comey also confirmed Trump's assertion that he assured him Trump was not a target of the FBI's investigation into Russia's meddling and possible collusion by Trump's campaign.

At Duffy's Irish Pub in D.C., a large-screen TV on the patio and 15 TVs inside were tuned in as lawmakers pressed Comey on his prepared testimony. Duffy's also served "Covfefe cocktails."

Another bar, The Pug on H Street NE, said in a Twitter post Monday they would open at 11 a.m., but "given the gravity of Thusday's Comey hearings," their TVs will be showing HGTV or "Law and Order" re-runs.

Commissary, located near Logan Circle, encouraged everyone to gossip about the Comey hearing over bottomless brunch.

Bottomless mimosas, bloody marys and sangria were served for $15. The bar also offered a $5 "Conspiracy and Covfefe" drink, which features American beer and a shot of Russian vodka.

Lastly, the Partisan and Red Apron Butcher, located on D Street in Penn Quarter, served specialty drinks called "The Last Word" and "Drop The Bomb."

Breakfast was also served for those who got a little hungry during the Comey viewing party.

Back at Union Pub, Saunders took a political tact herself in talking about the fixture's clientele. Her customers are both pro- and anti-Trump, she said.

One Washington bar that did nothing special was in the lobby of Trump's hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue between the White House and the Capitol.

Of the four TVs at the bar, three were tuned to Fox News coverage of the hearing, while the fourth showed French Open tennis. The TVs were muted, with quiet jazz playing over the lobby's sound system. That meant anyone who wanted to follow Comey's remarks had to read the captions.

Plenty of velvet and leather seats at the bar were available, and one point, there were as many reporters (four) as there were ordinary people having a drink and watching the hearing.

Ravi Nallamothu and his wife, Padmaja Manyam, both 39-year-old physicians and Trump supporters from Napa, California, said they decided to have a drink at the bar and watch the hearing because the line at the nearby National Archives was too long. They wanted to see the hotel while they were in town.